How the Other Half Lives
by Angie J Trifid
Summary: Lady is a debutante loner from a noble family in the 1920s, while Tramp is a street boy who shows her how the lower classes live. He can't offer her money, but he will give her new friends, adventure, an escape when her aunt mistreats her without her parents' knowledge, and even romance. Humanised and slight AU, taking place over a longer period of time than the movie. Rated T
1. Lady and Tramp

**A/N: I know this isn't an original concept, but I'm hoping that the way it's done is original. It's original because I'm actually setting this is the time of the 1920s, it takes place over a longer period of time than the movie, and some of them actually have dogs. I'm aware this is almost an alternate universe of the universe, but so are most humanised versions, so hopefully you can forgive me for that**

**I've tried to keep the designs as similar to their dog selves as possible, but some parts (like Tramp's eye colour) are changed because it fitted the humanisation slightly better. Okay, I'll let you begin now…**

**(awful chapter title is awful)**

* * *

**Chapter One: Lady and Tramp**

Lady had always been the only child of a wealthy family which held something resembling a nobility status. She behaved properly and was courteous and polite, and although her parents worried that she was lonely, she never let on if she was. She had only two friends, and seemed to not mind that she had nobody else. Her Aunt Sarah disliked her immensely, but that was okay too, because Aunt Sarah never really came over.

Still, Lady's parents didn't want her to be a lonely girl, because it's important to have good friends, especially when one is young, so on her fifteenth birthday, they burst into her room holding a hat box and announced that she was only getting one real present this year; everything else would be to help her care for it.

Rubbing the sleep from her big brown eyes, Lady sat up and yawned. She was pale and delicate, well-fed though not fat, with long, glossy, wavy brown hair. She gently took the box from her parents and set it down on her lap to untie the ribbon holding it shut. Immediately she could feel something squirming.

Her present this year was alive?

Pulling the ribbon on the box out of its bow, Lady heard a shuffling from inside the box, and then saw a tiny dark nose poke the lid off from inside. Removing the lid, Lady gasped in joy.

Inside the box was a golden cocker spaniel puppy, an adorable little girl with brown ears and a red ribbon on her neck. Lady lifted the puppy out of the box and the little thing seemed almost to smile at her, wagging its tail and desperately trying to lick her face.

"She's all yours," Lady's mother said. "A special friend, just for you."

Lady clutched the puppy to her chest and beamed at her parents. "Thank you so much," she gushed. "She's just perfect."

The first night was quite funny, as although the puppy – who she named Missy – had been allowed to sleep in Lady's room, Lady had not wanted the pup to sleep on the bed with her (mostly because Missy was so small, and Lady didn't want to accidentally roll over and squash the poor thing). Missy, on the other hand, had different ideas. She immediately hopped out of her little basket, sat beside Lady's bed, and cried until Lady finally put the basket next to the bed, the dog in the basket, and lay on her front so her hand could dangle over the side and also lay in the basket.

Still, she found Missy's pleasant, squirming warm form very comforting.

As Missy grew, they developed a night-time routine whereby Lady would tell Missy it was bedtime and Missy would hop into her basket, tail wagging happily, sitting nicely and watching Lady. The second Lady was in bed, though, with her head on the pillow, Missy was jumping onto the bed with her and settling down by her side, and Lady would fall asleep with her hand on Missy's back. Missy always moved by morning, though, because Lady would wake up with the spaniel's head on her legs.

It didn't take long for Lady and Missy to do everything together. Missy sat by Lady's chair at the dinner table during breakfast, lunch and dinner. They enjoyed walks together, played in the garden, sat in front of the fire as Lady read, and Missy even let Lady bathe her. Lady began getting up when Missy did, and running out to fetch the newspaper (and keep Missy from digging up the garden) with her.

* * *

Two weeks before her seventeenth birthday, Lady was sitting down at the breakfast table with Missy by her side, and her mother said, "I want to talk to you about something, Lady."

"Yes, mother?" Lady asked politely.

"I don't want you to worry," Lady's mother told her, "but your father and I are going to try for another baby."

"Oh." Was there any other appropriate response to that?

"It's not that we don't love you," her mother continued, "but you've grown up so quickly. Why, soon you'll be finding a suitor to marry!"

"I'm not worried, mother," Lady said. "I think it's a fine idea. I was just surprised."

"I'm glad you're okay with it," her mother said, serving breakfast. Lady slipped a rasher of bacon into Missy's bowl, and Missy wagged her tail in appreciation. "Now, let's talk about your seventeenth."

Lady blinked in confusion. "My seventeenth, mother?"

"Yes, Lady, your seventeenth. Your father might object to it, but I think we should hold a party to introduce you to the young men of town this year. You're old enough now."

Lady perked up. She'd never been to a party before. "That sounds wonderful, mother."

"Missy won't be able to go," her mother said apologetically. "Dogs and parties aren't a good combination."

"No, I understand," Lady answered, somewhat more downtrodden than before.

"I think I shall get you a necklace for your birthday; a beautiful one, with gold and diamonds."

"Can it look like Missy's collar?" Lady asked. Her mother gave a small smirk. Lady's hair was very similar to the soft, wavy fur of Missy's ears, and Lady loved the idea that the two looked like one another.

"Of course it can," her mother said.

"Thank you, mother," Lady said. They finished breakfast in silence, and Lady excused herself from the table so she could take Missy for a walk.

* * *

Lady awaited her birthday, over the next two weeks, with a mixture of dread and nerves knotted in her stomach. Missy was the one who woke her up, of course, when it turned six. She groaned, stood up, stretched and opened the bedroom door so Missy could go and do her business in the garden. Lady followed, and was so tired she was halfway down the stairs before she realised she was seventeen now.

Her father was talking excitedly into the phone, apparently to Aunt Sarah, when she arrived at the foot of the stairs. He paused to greet her, said goodbye to Aunt Sarah, and hugged her.

"Happy birthday, Lady," her father said softly. Lady was almost as tall as he was now, and he pulled back to look at her. "You look just as beautiful as your mother."

Lady blushed and tried to change the subject. "Why were you on the phone so early, Father? Do you and Mother have good news?" She raised an eyebrow pointedly. Though she hadn't known what to think at first, she had to admit she was excited at the prospect of having a baby brother or sister to care for.

"Yes, we do," her father said, beaming. Then he frowned. "Your aunt, I swear… I don't know what her problem is. You're a fine young lady, Lady."

Lady shrugged helplessly. "You know how Aunt Sarah is, Father. We can't do anything about her."

"Well, let's not worry about that," her father said, beaming again. "Happy birthday, dear."

He lead her into the kitchen, where her mother and Missy were already waiting with a spectacular looking breakfast, a portion of which Missy was already helping herself to. It seemed Mother had a big day planned, but the first thing she did was present Lady with her new necklace. Just as requested, it was very similar to Missy' collar: a golden circle almost like a license, attached to a blue strap, rather like a choker necklace. The name _Lady_ was engraved in the circle, and a number of small diamonds were dotted around the name, evenly spaced in another circular shape. Lady immediately put the necklace on.

"We really do match now, Missy!" she exclaimed happily, hugging her mother and whispering "Congratulations!" in her ear.

"Have your breakfast quickly and take Missy out for a walk," her mother said. "We've got a lot to do today."

"You can show your new necklace to Jock and Trusty," her father said. "I'm sure they'll like it." Jock and Trusty, maybe because they were Lady's only two friends or maybe because the three had known each other for a long time, were the only boys Father seemed to be comfortable with. They were a little older than her, and unmarried, but they had always meant well.

Lady dressed for the warm August weather in a light brown shirt and a long blue skirt, clipped Missy's leash onto her collar and took her out, strolling up to Jock's house first on their way to the park.

Jock was just heading out with his dog, a little Scottie called Barra (named, apparently, after a Scottish island). Jock was a dark-haired Scotsman, shorter than Lady, with a small moustache. He usually wore a red tartan kilt, and seemed not to mind the cold too much. He was also an expert on jewellery, often collecting the stuff himself and always calling jewellery his treasure when he looked it over, no matter whose it was.

"Good morning Jock!" Lady called, and waited with Missy for Jock and Barra to catch up. "Notice anything different?"

She saw Jock's eyes snap to the necklace briefly, and knew he was joking when he said, "New haircut?"

Lady shook her head. "Guess again."

"Ye've had your nails done?"

"No…"

Lady craned her neck and puffed out her chest to show off the necklace.

"Well I'll be," Jock said, feigning surprise. "A bonnie new necklace. Come here, let me have a look at my new treasure."

Lady smirked a little and removed the necklace for Jock to inspect. He looked it over a couple of times, handed it back and said. "Beautiful, lassie, absolutely beautiful, and very expensive-looking, too. Ye better take good care of it."

"Oh, I will," Lady promised. "Mother had it made to look just like Missy's collar."

"Well, that's lovely," Jock said. "We'd better go show it to Trusty on the way to the park. You know how sensitive he is about these things."

Trusty was tall and dark, and always accompanied by his bloodhound. The bloodhound was also called Trusty, and they had to call him Trusty Dog to avoid confusion. They had run for a while with Trusty's grandfather tracking down criminals, before the grandfather had retired and Trusty Dog had lost his sense of smell.

"But we must never let on that we know, lassie," Jock always said. "Terrible thing, really. Should never have happened to a dog."

Whether Trusty himself knew his dog had no sense of smell or not was anyone's guess, but he was always trying to convince someone – whether himself or them, they didn't know – that Trusty Dog was still a fine tracker. However, an equally terribly development had recently occurred. Trusty's eyesight appeared to have deteriorated, while he used to be one of the best at spotting anything out of place. Again, Lady and Jock never let on they knew, because it would break Trusty's heart to know he and Trusty Dog weren't still the crack team they used to be.

When they reached Trusty's house, he was desperately apologising to Trusty Dog, probably having stepped on his paw. They had to clear their throats before he realised either of them were there, but when he did, his sight was good enough to say, "Why Miss Lady, you have a new necklace!"

"Uh-huh," Lady said, as they went along their way to the park. "Mother and Father are throwing a debutante party for me tonight, so I can meet others my age."

"Aye," Jock said, "we heard."

"Oh, say you'll go," Lady begged, "the both of you! Please? Missy can't go, and I don't want to be alone at the party without her!"

"O' course we'll go, lassie," Jock promised. "We wouldn't dream of leavin' ye all alone in a big party like that."

* * *

Meanwhile, not too far away, a skinny boy of about eighteen had just woken up. He had a real name, but he went by the name Tramp. He was very thin, with scruffy greyish-black hair and happy, intelligent blue eyes. He wore a dirty dress shirt whose sleeves had been torn off above the elbows at different lengths, a too-big pair of dirty grey shorts which were ripped at the knee and held up with suspenders, and a pair of old shoes.

He was friendly and popular, and so was his grey mutt, Champ. They didn't actually have a home, but they ran errands for friends, who gave them a place to sleep and a meal to eat. They had spent the night on the beaten old couch of one of these friends, and Tramp left behind a couple of dollar bills he had found in his pocket, deciding to take Champ to the park for the morning. Champ didn't have a leash or a collar; Champ had just come along one day a couple of years ago and decided to be his dog.

On the way, Tramp and Champ stopped by an Italian restaurant, _Tony's_, and Joe gave them breakfast. Then they headed for the park, stopping occasionally to look in shop windows.

* * *

"…and so, Mother and Father are going to have a baby," Lady explained, as they came into the park.

"That's wonderful, Miss Lady," Trusty said.

"Aye," Jock agreed. "Just you wait. They smell an' beller a lot, an' Missy won' be allowed to play wi' it, but babies are very sweet."

"I'm sure it will be," Lady said, "whether it's a girl or a boy."

"An' how did your – ah – aunt take to the news?" Jock asked. He and Trusty, like her parents, were well aware that Lady's great aunt did not like her.

"Father wasn't too pleased with her," Lady said, "so she must have been very excited." Every time Aunt Sarah and Father talked about Lady, Father got more and more annoyed, until he mentioned something about Lady which Aunt Sarah struggled to find faults with, and then he would grin at Lady, becoming increasingly smug. Sometimes when this happened on the phone, Lady and Mother would listen in – usually with the extension on the landing – and try not to laugh too audibly as Aunt Sarah became increasingly flustered.

Missy was tugging at the leash, presumably having spotted a dog she wanted to play with. Lady patted her on the head and reassured her that she'd be let off in a minute.

"It's a'right, lassie," Jock said gently. "Her opinion doesn't matter."

"I agree," Lady said. "Thank you."

Suddenly Missy wasn't gently tugging at her leash anymore. She was racing off, and Lady was taken so much by surprise that she didn't have time to dig her heels in and stop Missy. She was dragged along until Missy reached whoever she wanted to meet, and just as Lady thought she could kneel down to unclip the leash, Missy and another dog began to run in circles around Lady and the other dog's owner, tying them together with the leash.

"Oh!" Lady exclaimed, as the two dogs finally came to a standstill. "I'm so sorry."

"Hey," the other person chuckled, "I'm not complaining."

Missy had succeeded in tying Lady to a handsome – if in need of a few good meals and a proper bath – young man with striking blue eyes. He flashed her a brilliant grin and held her waist to keep her from falling as Missy tried to move again.

"Lassie!" Jock called, as he and Trusty bounded over with their dogs. "Are ye alright?"

"I'm fine," Lady said, placing a hand on the dirty boy's chest to put some distance between them, "but could you unclip Missy's leash so we can get free?"

Trusty obliged, and the leash slackened, allowing Lady and the boy to untangle themselves.

"Is that your dog?" Jock asked, gesturing to the thin, grey dog Missy had run off to play with.

"Well, sort of," the boy said. "Champ chose me, instead of the other way around."

"It's so strange," Lady muttered thoughtfully. "Missy's never done that before."

"Well, some people just know when they like each other," the boy said, shrugging. "Must be the same with dogs."

The boy winked at Lady, who blushed despite herself. Truth be told, nobody had ever flirted with her before.

"Who are you, anyway?" Jock asked suspiciously.

"They call me Tramp," the boy said, puffing out his chest in a proud fashion.

"Tramp?" Lady asked.

"That's right, Pige," Tramp answered. "See, we're street boys, Champ and me."

Lady pursed her lips. "Well, good for you. But my name's Lady, _not_ Pige."

"Lady, huh? I'll stick with Pige. Sounds more like I'm using an actual name. Not that yours isn't nice, of course."

Lady didn't respond, unsure what to say. Jock and Trusty seemed wary of Tramp, and she was somewhat uncertain of him herself, but he either ignored this or didn't notice, and kept trying to rekindle the conversation as they watched the dogs play.

Finally Lady, Jock and Trusty left, but Tramp called Lady back just as she was clipping Missy's leash back onto her collar. Jock and Trusty paused, but she waved them on, promising that she'd catch up in a minute.

"Can I help you?" she asked Tramp, straightening up.

"Well – not to be too forward, Pige – I've sort of taken a liking to you. Would it be wrong if I saw you again some time? Or are you and your friends too good for a couple of poor little street boys like Champ and me?"

Lady faltered. She wanted to play it cool, to wave him off and for that to be it. But something about the look in his eyes told her that wouldn't be it anyway.

Oh, who was she kidding? She liked him just a little bit.

"That wouldn't be a problem at all," Lady said. "In fact, I think that would be very nice."


	2. The Debutante Ball

**A/N: now we're starting to get to the reason I wanted to set this in the 20s: it was the time of the flappers. For some reason I like that, and thought it would be good to have in this story. I'm not entirely sure of the full workings of a debutante ball, so I've missed bits out and made the remains a bit like a Cinderella-type ball, mostly just talking and dancing**

**I've also decided to go with the names for Jim Dear and Darling from pre-production, which were Jim and Elizabeth Brown. Also, the son's going to be called Jim Jr… this basically comes from reading the **_**Lady and the Tramp**_** wiki**

**Sorry for any mistakes, by the way. I'm just finishing this off at about two in the morning, but I'll go back and check everything over soon, hopefully as I write the third chapter**

**Kjspirit23: Thanks so much. I'm really proud of it**

**Little-Angel-02: Thanks! Hope this is soon enough**

**Zerocchi: I'm sorry *cries in a corner***

* * *

**Chapter Two: The Debutante Ball**

"Jim Dear, I just wish you'd let me tell her," Lady heard her mother say through the open window, as she came up the path to the house.

"I know Darling," her father said, "but she caught me getting off the phone to Aunt Sarah. She figured it out."

"She's such a clever girl," Mother said proudly. "I just hope her baby brother or sister will be as smart as she is."

"Oh, I'm sure he will be, Darling," Father said wistfully. Lady knew her father had always secretly wanted a son, although he loved her very much. He had mentioned once, when she asked, that babies weren't easy to take care of, so the possibility of having a son must be why he had agreed to try for another one.

"I wouldn't mind so much, Jim Dear, but did you have to tell Aunt Sarah _today_? What if she suddenly decides to come over? This is Lady's special day, and I don't want Sarah to ruin it for her."

Finally Lady decided she'd had enough of listening in. "I won't let her, mother!" she called in through the window. Coming into the house, she added, "Don't excite yourself too much, mother. Not in your condition."

Mother rolled her eyes playfully and said, "Come on, Lady. We'll go to a boutique and pick out a gown for you to wear tonight."

* * *

Tramp sat on a box by the back entrance of a cafe. He and Champ had run an errand for the owner after meeting Lady and Missy in the park, and in return they'd been offered anything they wanted from the menu. Champ lay at Tramp's feet, gnawing on a bone, as Tramp ate lunch.

"Maybe I should get Pige something," Tramp thought aloud. "But what would you get a girl like her, huh, boy?"

Champ sighed as if to say he was already tired of the conversation.

"You've been talking about this girl you met since you got here," commented the son of the cafe's owner, a large, English, dark-skinned boy about Tramp's age. An English bulldog, the family dog, hung around his feet, hoping for some food to fall on the floor. Because of his size, strength and dog, Tramp and his friends often called the boy Bull.

"I can't help it," Tramp replied. "She's something special, Bull. She really is."

Bull sighed. Tramp's one weakness was girls, and he'd seen Tramp thinking about a pretty girl he'd just met before, but this time seemed slightly different. Maybe he was imagining things, or maybe Tramp just liked this girl more than the others. It could just be that this girl – whose name Tramp hadn't actually mentioned yet, considering it probably wasn't Pige – also had a dog, whereas the women Tramp usually went after didn't have dogs. Bull didn't know.

"Look, matey," Bull said, "you're the girl expert. Besides that, I don't even know this girl's name. If you want my advice, _don't_ ask me for help."

"Who should I ask then?"

Bull blinked. Tramp was… stuck. It looked like Tramp had no idea what to do. He was debating out loud if he was supposed to get Pige, whoever she was, flowers the next time they met, or if he should wait before he did that.

This was a first.

Maybe he _really_ liked this girl.

"You should ask Peg," Bull said at last.

* * *

Peg was a girl Tramp had been with in the past, and possibly the only close female friend he actually had. She was clever, but she still worked in a boutique. Peg had thick, white-blonde hair, half-lidded blue eyes and a sweet voice. She was also part of a fairly new trend called the flappers, a trend which was growing as young women became more independent.

Much to Tramp's dismay, this had meant cutting her long, beautiful hair short, although on the plus side flappers tended to wear skirts which reached their knees, rather than their ankles, and were generally quite liberal and rebellious, wanting to have fun while they were still young.

Peg was standing outside the boutique where she worked, smoking a cigarette while she took a short break, when she spotted Tramp approaching. "Hiya, handsome," she said, winking. "What brings you here? Come to try on a dress?"

Tramp rolled his eyes at her. "I need some advice."

"_You_?"

"Crazy as it sounds. Listen…" Tramp told her all about a girl he'd met, a beauty from the upper class side of town who he'd met when Champ and the girl's dog had accidentally tied them together. He explained that he didn't know if he should do anything for her, didn't know anything about her, except that her name was Lady and she'd agreed to see him again.

"Lady?" Peg asked slowly. "Brown hair, brown eyes, and the dog is a little golden cocker that goes everywhere with her?"

Tramp's eyes lit up. "That's her! You've seen her?"

"Yeah, Lady Brown. Her mother comes into the shop sometimes," Peg explained. "You really want my help, don't you?"

Tramp nodded, and Peg studied him carefully. She still liked Tramp – but then again, everybody did; he was just so likeable – and she wanted to help him, but she didn't know if she should. Not if Tramp was just gonna set up Lady Brown for a fall. She'd never really talked to the girl, but she was sweet, and Peg liked her.

So did Tramp, apparently. He seemed desperate, and sincere. "Alright," Peg sighed, "I gotta go back in now. Show up during my lunch break and I'll help you out."

Tramp hugged Peg in appreciation and he and Champ trotted off to find a way to pass the time until then. Peg turned to go back in, her brain working quickly. Elizabeth and Lady Brown had an appointment in the boutique any minute. Maybe she could talk to Lady about Tramp and figure out some way to help.

"Mind if I take the Browns?" Peg asked her boss, who agreed. A few minutes later, the women in question turned up, and Peg went up to greet them, telling them she'd take care of Lady today.

"We're after a gown," Elizabeth – Lady's mother – told her, "for the debutante ball tonight."

"Any particular colour?" Peg asked.

"Blue," Lady said immediately, "to match my new necklace, please."

Peg nodded and led her to where the blue gowns were kept. "Beautiful necklace," she said.

"Thank you. It's my birthday present," Lady replied, blushing slightly. _Kid must not be used to compliments,_ Peg thought. They began to go through the gowns, Peg holding them up against Lady to see which ones suited her, and Peg decided she could ask about Tramp. Elizabeth wasn't there to overhear, after all.

"Friend of mine says he knows you," she said casually, placing a hideous dress (one which even Lady would struggle to make beautiful. Why did they even have something like that in stock, anyway?) back on the rail.

"Oh, I doubt it," Lady said. "I don't really know anyone who…"

"Who isn't upper class? No shame in it, dearie," Peg said, holding up a much nicer dress, which she draped over one arm so Lady could try it on. "You must have an easier life than the rest of us."

Lady looked down, unsure how to answer. Peg decided to get off the subject and back on track.

"This guy says he met you today," she added. "Goes by the street name Tramp. Dark hair, blue eyes, about this tall, scruffy but a real looker. Sound familiar?"

Lady's eyes had snapped back up at the name 'Tramp', and she was smiling now, as Peg draped another gown over her arm. "Yes," she said, "we _did_ meet today."

Peg smiled knowingly, trying not to look sad or patronising, when she saw the look in Lady's eye. She'd seen it before, and this was why she wanted to talk to Lady before helping Tramp. She didn't want the poor kid to get hurt. Then again, there was something about the way Tramp had looked when he was talking about Lady; something _different_ to the look on his face before. The expression from all those other times was a look Peg and Tramp's other friends were used to, having seen it so many times before. They would _all_ know something was off this time.

"Let's go try these on," Peg said, leading Lady to the dressing room. As she began helping Lady into the first of the three gowns she'd selected, she said, "What did you think of him?"

"Of who – oh, you mean Tramp?" Lady said. She smiled slightly. "I thought he was… to be honest, I don't know many other people. I'd say he seemed different from the other boys I know, but I only really know two, and they're older than me."

"Oh, he'll be different from your friends, alright," Peg said, not meaning it harshly. "He'll be different from everything you know, I think. I assume you've had a sheltered life, and Tramp… well, he's pretty much always been a street kid."

"I can believe that," said Lady. They paused the conversation as she gave a small twirl and looked herself over in the mirror. Then Peg began to help Lady into the second gown.

"Looking forward to your debutante party?" Peg asked conversationally.

"I think so," Lady said. "But I'll hardly know anybody there, apart from Jock and Trusty – the two gentleman friends I mentioned earlier."

"Well, that's the point of these things," Peg said. "You get to socialise with people your own age. You get forced to do it, but you get to do it."

"I suppose so," Lady said.

They settled on the strapless dress Peg had chosen, which tied at the hip with a sash and almost exactly matched the shade of blue from Lady's necklace.

"It's beautiful," Lady said breathlessly. "Thank you for picking it out for me."

"No problem, dearie," Peg replied, smiling. Lady seemed to have something which seemed to make people like her.

Tramp was a little late turning up to Peg's lunch break, and to say that she wasn't pleased with him was, for once, not an understatement. Today, she was just mildly annoyed.

"I swear," she threatened before Tramp could even greet her, "that if you _dare_ hurt that girl, I'll kill you. That's no exaggeration, Tramp. She's a sweet kid, and to be honest, she deserves better than the likes of you." Peg sighed. "But… she seems to like you, and I said I'd help. Get your butt in here; I need to get you a suit."

Not waiting for him to answer, Peg grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the boutique.

* * *

"That has to be the most beautiful necklace I've ever seen!" a young woman, older than Lady by about a year, gushed. She called the others over to coo and dote over Lady, too.

There were six of them in all: the young woman, a friend of hers, and three people Lady didn't know. They were all older than Lady, apart from one girl who would not be seventeen for another six months, and Lady stuck close to this girl, because they were both on their own and nervous. The girl was called Dorothy, and had golden hair, green eyes and the most adorable freckles.

"How are you feeling?" Dorothy asked. Lady's stomach had twisted with nerves, causing her to feel relatively ill, but she swallowed hard and smiled anyway.

"Terrified," she said honestly. Dorothy nodded

"Me too. I've barely been out of the house before. I just hope the ball doesn't last too long."

"The sooner it begins, the sooner it can finish," Lady said, glancing at the clock again.

It had originally been planned as just Lady's party, of course, but her mother had friends whose daughters were also ready to enter society, and so it became a debutante ball for six young girls. It was being held in the enormous dining hall of a large mansion, although the young ladies were waiting upstairs. They would descend the staircase like something out of a fairytale, one at a time. They would meet and talk to new people, and dance with young men, and hopefully each would find themselves a suitor.

A butler poked his head around the door, said, "We're ready for you now," and left again. All six girls swallowed, then lined up and began to leave the room they were in, shaking hands and wishing each other good luck as though it were the last time they would see one another. The band played beautiful music as they descended the staircase.

A young man was twirling Lady past the windows of the dining hall when her eyes fell upon a flash of white. The man was a good dancer, but he was rather dull, and she had been looking anywhere but at him anyway, because the looks he kept giving her were making her _very_ uncomfortable. When she caught the brief flash of white from outside, while in mid-spin, Lady surprised herself by thinking, _That's Peg, isn't it?_

The second the song ended, she excused herself and dashed over to the French windows, sneaking outside while nobody was looking.

Peg gave her a proud smile. "You look beautiful, dearie," she sighed happily.

"Thank you," Lady replied. "I feel rather beautiful, too."

Before Lady could ask what Peg was doing here, the door behind her opened and Dorothy stepped part way out. "The party's inside, Lady, although I can understand why you wanted to get away from Robert," she teased. Then her eyes fell on Peg. "Oh… who is…?"

"Dorothy, this is Peg," Lady explained quickly. "I won't be out here too much longer. Could you cover for me?"

Dorothy nodded and re-entered the mansion.

"Cute kid," Peg commented. The knee-length dress she wore had clearly snagged on something as she snuck onto the grounds, but she didn't seem to care too much.

"I suppose," Lady said. "But Peg, whatever are you doing here?"

"Somebody wanted to see you again," Peg said, winking.

At first Lady didn't understand. Then a young man with dark hair and blue eyes stepped out from behind a hedge, and Lady's jaw almost dropped. This couldn't be Tramp, could it? His hair was smoothed back, and he wore a suit. He looked handsome, but Lady couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. The scruffy look had given him a certain charm which he lost when he cleaned up.

"Hiya, Pige," he winked, flashing Lady a toothy grin. "Mind if I have this dance?"

"Not at all," Lady replied, taking his outstretched hand as a new song started. The band was playing loud enough for them to hear it.

"I think I'll give you two kids some privacy," Peg said, sneaking off to who-knew-where.

Tramp took Lady by the hand, placing his other hand gently on her waist, and they began to dance.

"So this is how high society does parties, huh?" Tramp said, half-commenting and half-questioning.

"It must be," Lady replied.

"Must be really exciting."

"Oh, yes," Lady said, hinting at the sarcasm she felt. "Nothing to do but talk, dance and eat. All my favourite pastimes."

"I wouldn't object to that."

"No, I'm sure you wouldn't. But the young man I was just dancing with was a frightful bore. People expect a young woman to find a suitor at these parties, but I just don't know how I'll manage that. The young men n there are just awful."

"Even your two gentleman friends?"

"Oh, they aren't too bad. They've been eating, mostly."

Tramp spun Lady around and smiled. "The best thing to do at parties."

"So far it seems to be," Lady said. Tramp pulled a face.

"You've never been to a party, huh?"

"Not before tonight, no."

"You should check out a real party some time, Pige," Tramp laughed boyishly. "Come see how the lower classes manage."

"I'm sure a person isn't bored stiff by the conversation at any of the parties you'd go to," Lady said teasingly.

"Definitely not," Tramp said. Suddenly he pulled her closer, and Lady was reminded just slightly of how he had held her earlier, when Missy had tied the two of them together. Had it really been the same day? It felt like such a long time ago.

"Is this how you treat all young ladies you've just met?" she asked jokingly.

"Just the special ones," Tramp said, winking again, his grin widening.

For a moment, Lady thought Tramp wanted to kiss her, but then the song ended and her let go of her waist. The two of them took a small step back from one another, their hands lingering before letting go, and Tramp said, "You'd better be going back to your party. Don't wanna be gone for too long, Pige."

As she gazed into Tramp's bright eyes, a thought occurred to Lady that she had enjoyed herself more with Tramp, someone entirely out of her standing in the class system, than she had done with any of the other young men at the ball put together. She offered him a grin of her own.

"Say, Tramp," she said cheekily, "would it be wrong if I asked you to come see me again some time? Or am I too good for a poor little street boy like you?"

Tramp cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "You _want_ to hang out with a couple of dirty little orphaned street boys like me and Champ?" he asked.

"I don't think I would object," Lady replied. "You could take me too one of your parties."

"I'd have to get Peg to teach you the latest dance moves."

"I don't mind. I like Peg."

"Are you sure?" Tramp asked, but Lady would not be dissuaded.

"Of course I am."

"In that case," Tramp said, "I think that's a _brilliant_ idea, Pige."

They grinned at each other for a moment, before Tramp opened the French window, holding the door to allow Lady to get back to her party.


End file.
